Dreaming of a Designated Brew/Wine Space

[pioneergirl]

We have lived in our house for 6 years and never use our dining room. In fact our living room has the pool table in it and is open onto the dining room.

We have recently started brewing beer and winemaking (an extension of our hunting/butchering/processing/foraging/canning) and have fallen in love with the entire process. The dining room has now become the landing spot for all of the brewmaking/winemaking equipment. I have to qualify this idea/statement by saying we have a huge additional unfinished garage (aka, my husband's house) that I believe will house the supplies and whatnot in the future. (supposedly going to wire this summer). Until then.....

It's only natural that I suggested that we make this dining room space the current brewmaking/winemaking area. A space to store some equipment, maybe some working carboys and definitely store the final product.

I am attaching a pic for design suggestions. The house fluctuates seasonally with thermostat settings ranging from 55 degrees at night in winter and 80 degrees or even a little higher in summer - as we leave for relief and set it higher when gone. Anyone already have knowledge of an existing thread on a topic similar to this? Any suggestions on must have items to incorporate into plan? Wish List inlcudes a medium to large size wine fridge set up/semi built in. Perhaps tabletop design to store working carboys in place. Other cabinets? thanks.

 

[JohnT]

w/b making is all consuming!

To put this into perspective, I spent a YEAR living with my in-laws so that I could find the perfect house for winemaking. Yup, Thats right, A WHOLE FREAKIN YEAR!

How my wife (and realtor) did not kill me, I'll never know. Since realtors do not exactly get "winemaking functionality" requests, she had no clue what I really wanted. We must have looked at hundreds of homes until, one day, I found the perfect place.

This place has 2/3 of its basement finished with carpet, wet bar, and fireplace.

The other 1/3 of the basement (partitioned off with a door) was the previous owner's wood shop, with 2 metal double doors to the outside. It opens at ground level so no steps are involved in carting grapes in or out.


but I digress,

This space of your looks a little too nice for use as a fermentarium. I would look into putting up a wall to divide the space into a hidden area to ferment, and a nice area where you can "sit and sip".

 

[ffemt128]

How about a basement area? Does that exist. I would look to that first, you could install the necesary plumbing for sinks and even area for a stove if needed. Keep in mind, if you dedicate your (very nice) dining room to a brewing area, you may need to move everything at some point if you decide to use the area for its optimal use. I would avoid moving stuff later by setting up a permanent area now in the basement or garage if possible.

 

[Rocky]

PG, do I understand that the garage is "additional" to another garage that is used for vehicles? I would assume that it is separate from the house. No doubt in my mind, if it is additional, that would be my choice. I designed custom homes for a while before fully retiring and I really like your layout. Is that a "Butler's Pantry" between the kitchen and dining room? I would not do anything to ruin that room if I were you. You are going to need a place to entertain friends with your excellent wines!

 

[Flem]

I agree with these guys. You have a beautiful home. I'd hate to see you make a winery out of it. If you have the basement space or that huge garage you mentioned, that would be my choice. BUT!!! If you don't have these options open to you, then put up a temporary partition to hide the work area and make sure you protect the floor. Good Luck!!

 

[pioneergirl]

PG, do I understand that the garage is "additional" to another garage that is used for vehicles? I would assume that it is separate from the house. No doubt in my mind, if it is additional, that would be my choice. I designed custom homes for a while before fully retiring and I really like your layout. Is that a "Butler's Pantry" between the kitchen and dining room? I would not do anything to ruin that room if I were you. You are going to need a place to entertain friends with your excellent wines!

Yes, I have an additional "garage/mahal/husband's house" in addition to (our) "my" house with garages. My husband already has the stainless steel sink and conduits for water, gas, etc....just need to save money to wire and finish. Since we butcher our own game meat and such --- now we have this new hobby and he's decided he will install a fermenting/brewing station in that garage. We will store toys and hobbies in that garage. As I am learning, wine takes a slightly warmer temperature than beer to ferment....And I am thinking that "my" house will be the better locale for that --- the bottling and storage done in kitchen and whatnot; but storage or some storage and possibly some aging to be done in the current "dining room" area (in the future - wine tasting area; social area; some wine storage?).

What you see in that background is a tiny wet bar area with minimal cabinet storage for liqour and glasses and a case of wine storage above counter space and thru there is kitchen.

Right now, I have the prim. ferm bucket in kitchen on floor with brew belt on it hanging out It's easy for me to check on there and grab samples when needed and such. i have a carboy bulk aging at approx 65 degrees in the laundry room under an open counter space. There is room there for about 6-8 carboys/buckets under that counter in there. It is out of sight/out of the way. I just have no where to store wine once it is bottled in a nice, convenient way and that will bother me at some point in the future.

How does a somewhat transitional/dual function space sound then? like a social/some wine storage/wine tasting area sound then? We do want room to play. I don't want to go to the other garage to get any wine; just occasional visits. I am hearing that perhaps general carboy storage in this area would not look nice (maybe put in laundry room - out of sight) and focus on minimal wine storage (in fridges and / or racks) and tasting / social area?

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Very nice house. I wouldn't ferment in that space. Wine has a habit of ruining carpet and fine furniture. Kitchens, basements, and even bathrooms are sometimes better equipped as a ferment space.

 

[Neviawen]

Hi, You have a very pretty dining room.
I am fairly new to wine making myself and am still up in the air about how I'm going to store my bottles once made. I have all the carboys in my kitchen at the moment but am working on a little storage area underneath my steps. (It used to be a storage closet for my husbands random stuff and I moved them out and made room for my stuff.)
Do you have a closet on the other side of those steps that you can dedicate to storing wine? That would be not too far from the dining area, dark,and hopefully not too hot or cold because it's on the main floor. They make pretty neat wine shelving that I saw online somewhere. I believe they are called waterfall wine racks. If you are interested in that option then google them and check them out. You may be able to make under those steps 1/2 wine storage and 1/2 regular shelving to store a few carboys and supplies until you get your garage brewing lab going.
Good luck and happy brewing!
~Kate

 

[Wade E]

If thats a wood floor (Looks like a nice light tile but cant ) one spill and you will have some serious buckelingand that would be a shame!

 

[pioneergirl]

Hi, You have a very pretty dining room.
~Kate

LOL!!! What I love is how this picture highlights the missing (broken) lamp shade on the pool table right up in your face - although it provides a nice shot for the picture so you all can see the dining room in its current state of disarray and this is "organized" for my husband's use right now.

I hear everyone loud and clear. I appreciate it. Too nice to revamp for this specific use. It's carpeted now (no updating/improving/replacing until kids are grown and out of the house!). But I can make the room a more transitional use type of space (ditch the table set). Clearly you can see we don't Dine in their! And when we are in that space it's playing pool and drinking and the dining table frankly gets in the way of the socializing. See that Wooden thing on the wall in the back? That is a dart board that is underutilized too (it's missing my ghetto cardboard backing that gets dragged out for when it is used).

When you mentioned the under the stairs thing....I recall seeing another thread with a picture of racks built into that type of stair space. HMMMMM. Thanks for recalling attention to that area - I had written it off because right now - that is U-shaped storage sapce for Xmas stuff under the stairs accessed through a door adjacent to the stairs - but once the other garage is done.......Hadn't thought of moving that seasonal storage to out there and perhaps convert that into wine storage that won't get direct sun there --- Or even "build" in or Insert one of those larger wine fridges for storage.

 

[captainl]

I recommend a large temperature controlled wine room in the garage!!